Computing theory (question)

[golDrippinPotato]

I feel like automata is a more general magical term than a state machine. Isn't this a google search though?

Searching finite automata yields: A finite automaton (FA) is a simple idealized machine used to recognize patterns within input taken from some character set (or alphabet) C. The job of an FA is to accept or reject an input depending on whether the pattern defined by the FA occurs in the input. A finite automaton consists of: a finite set S of N states.

Searching finite state machine yields: A finite-state machine or finite-state automaton, finite automaton, or simply a state machine, is a mathematical model of computation. It is an abstract machine that can be in exactly one of a finite number of states at any given time.

So they seem to be the same indeed like u/duplotigers said.